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“We’re playing for him,” Liam Bell, 16, a Thunder defenceman, said of injured teammate Justin Mendes before Saturday night’s midget junior playoff game against the Toronto Penguins.

The Ted Reeve Thunder leave their dressing room wearing "JM 16" taped to their helmets and sticks before Saturday's playoff game against the Toronto Penguins. Teammate Justin Mendes, No. 16, suffered a broken neck when he was illegally checked from behind earlier in the series. (TARA WALTON / TORONTO STAR) | Order this photo

But a week after a 16-year-old GTHL player was left with a broken neck following an illegal check from behind, the game went on, albeit with emotions raw and hearts heavy.

“We’re playing for him,” Liam Bell, 16, a Ted Reeve Thunder defenceman, said in reference to injured teammate Justin Mendes before Saturday night’s midget junior playoff game against the Toronto Penguins at Scarborough Ice Gardens Arena.

Mendes, a defenceman, was drilled into the boards by a Penguins player as he went to retrieve a puck in a game at Chesswood Arena on Feb. 15. He was hospitalized and left with screws in his head to hold a traction device in place but has since returned home.

He was able to walk out of the hospital but is unlikely to play competitive hockey again.

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The unnamed player who hit him was suspended indefinitely and may not play again.

Mendes’ teammates taped his initials and No. 16 on their helmets, some wrote “pray for Mendes” across their stick blades and the team’s goalmouth cheer was “1-2-3 Mendes.”

“The best way to get revenge is a win,” defenceman Josh Takenaka, 16, said before the game.

Despite that motivation and scoring the opening goal, the Thunder lost 4-1 and were eliminated by the Penguins three games to one.

While there was no shortage of body contact or minor penalties, there were no fights or major scrums as the teams played their fourth game against each other in eight nights.

Mendes was hurt early in the first game.

“We didn’t want to see any kind of revenge or retribution because we don’t want to go down to that level,” said Thunder head coach Dave Hood. “We’re not fighting a battle.

“This is not a war. This is a hockey game and you need to win it on the ice with goals and good, hard team play.”

Penguins manager Paul Cohen said the player who checked Mendes feels “tremendous remorse” over the hit.

“If there’s a cloud over our team, so be it,” he said. “All the boys know that’s not who we are.”

The injury to Mendes — the most serious in the GTHL in nearly 20 years — comes as the league is conducting a survey on body contact. The poll is asking parents, players, officials and other stakeholders whether they think the age at which bodychecking begins — now at 11 — should be changed and even eliminated at some levels.

“The topic of bodychecking and the age and level that it’s introduced has been debated for 20-plus years,” said Scott Oakman, the GTHL’s executive director.

The league is trying to determine if there’s been “a culture change” given the increased focus on concussions to Sidney Crosby and others, as well as numerous studies on injuries, Oakman said of the survey, which closes March 4.

Two seasons ago, a slight majority of respondents (52 per cent at A and up to 57 per cent at AAA) favoured keeping bodychecking regulations as is.

The players, team officials and parents who spoke with the Star said that while the hit obviously has no place in the game, they also don’t think body contact has to be eliminated from minor hockey, even at the A level, the lowest of three in the GTHL.

“It’s hockey and hitting is part of hockey,” said Beverley Balogh, whose son Rian, 16, has played in the GTHL since age 9 and was Mendes’ defence partner that night.

Fellow hockey mom Janet Bone, who has three boys who played in the GTHL, agreed.

“It is frightening on one level but I also see it as a bit of a freak thing,” Bone said. “I hope it’s a teachable moment. For all the boys, I hope it’s a wake-up call.”

And Mendes’ teammates appear to see it as such.

Goaltender Matt Roustas,16, who was in the net when the hit occurred, said he’s “much more conscious,” yelling loud and clear to defencemen about onrushing forecheckers.

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